HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

West Port aiming to continue strong start to season

Maliek Stephens and the West Port Wolf Pack opened the season with a 17-6 victory at Dunnellon.

Alan Youngblood/Staff photographer

By Richard BurtonCorrespondent

Published: Monday, September 1, 2014 at 11:53 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 1, 2014 at 11:53 p.m.

Since taking over West Port's football program in December, Matt Franklin has talked about wanting to write his own history as the program's coach.

He started in the right direction, as the Wolf Pack snapped a six-game losing streak to Dunnellon with a 17-6 triumph Friday for their first win over their rivals since 2007.

West Port also snapped a five-game losing streak in regular season openers with the victory.

It was also the best defensive effort by the Wolf Pack since 2010, when they downed Lake Weir 7-6.

West Port will look to make more history when it hosts Forest this week.

“I'm hoping our place is packed because these kids deserve it,” Franklin said. “These kids deserve their home crowd, they deserve the biggest student body in Marion County, 2,600 kids, to have their butts in the stands rooting for these kids because they put the work in.”

The Wildcats lead the all-time series 11-2 and are 5-2 at WPHS. The Wolf Pack last knocked off FHS in 2005 and will try to snap an eight-game skid in the series.

“Coach Franklin's got them going over there,” Forest coach Skip Austin said. “He's got them believing. Our thing is we've got to make our guys understand that it's not the same old West Port team that has not been very good. They're a good football team and they've got some skill guys.”

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Belleview improved to 3-1 all-time against The Villages with a 17-7 win. It was the fewest points Belleview allowed in a game since 2007. The previous low allowed by the Rattlers was in a shutout against West Port seven years ago.

Belleview improved to 7-12 in regular season openers and moved coach Phil Yancey's career mark to 15-13 in season-opening contests.

The Rattlers will now try to win “The War for the Oar,” for the second straight year when they visit Lake Weir. Belleview snapped a four-game losing streak to the Hurricanes with a 13-10 win last September at the Strike Zone.

The Rattlers lead the all-time series 10-5, but Lake Weir won five of the last seven meetings.

Belleview will try to snap a three-game losing skid at Hurricane Field.

BACK AT IT: Dunnellon will try to avoid its first 0-2 start since 1993 against Inverness Citrus, which will attempt to knock off the Tigers in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1997-98.

Citrus opened its season with a 7-0 win over Class 6A, No. 10 Spring Hill Springstead thanks to Sam Franklin's 76-yard interception return on the final play of the game.

Last season, Citrus snapped a 15-game losing streak for Citrus County schools against Dunnellon with its 14-8 win at Ned Love Field.

It also ended a six-game losing streak for the Hurricanes against the Tigers.

Since 1966, Citrus holds a 15-9 edge over Dunnellon in the series.

BATTLE OF THE NORTHSIDE: The rivalry between North Marion and Vanguard has been about as even as it could be since it began in 1970. Both teams have won 23 games in the county's longest continuous running series.

A year ago, it was the final game of the decorated coaching career of former North Marion head coach Craig Damon, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak to the Knights with a 21-20 win.

Last year's game was the sixth since 1982 that was decided by a field goal or less and the 16th decided by a touchdown or less.

This time around, it will be the first go-around for both head coaches, North Marion's Stephen Field and Vanguard's Edwin Farmer. The only other time the two programs were led by first-year coaches was 1975, when Tom Freeman led Vanguard and Mike Clayton was in charge of North Marion.

FLAGGED: Both North Marion and Dunnellon will need to clean up their act when it comes to penalties in week two.

The Colts were flagged for 17 infractions against Forest, three off the school record for most penalties set in 1999 in a 13-0 loss at Daytona Beach Seabreeze.

Meanwhile, Dunnellon tied its school record with 16 penalties in its loss to West Port. The other time the Tigers received that many penalties was in the 1994 season opener, a 26-18 win over Lecanto in triple overtime.

DHS was 10 yards off the school record for penalty yards in one game — set in that same Lecanto game — with its 142 against West Port.

NMHS was 13 yards away from the single-game school mark of 175 set in a 1986 win over Callahan West Nassau. In that game, the Colts and Warriors combined for 29 penalties for 315 yards.

Marion County's most penalized game took place in 1984 when Forest and Orlando Boone combined for 361 yards in penalties, with Boone whistled for 22 of the 31 infractions.

TOUGH TRIP: Both Trinity Catholic and Palatka were rained out in their opening contests and will face each other this week.

This will be the second meeting between the two schools, with the Celtics holding a 20-14 victory over the Panthers in 2013.

TCHS, ranked No. 4 in 3A, will make its first trip to Veterans Memorial Stadium, a notoriously tough place to play.

Palatka, however, hasn't defeated a ranked opponent since 2006 when it won 28-27 at North Marion. Palatka has since lost 14 straight games against ranked opponents and is 1-17 against teams in the top 10 since 2004.

DUBIOUS RETURN: St. John Lutheran surrendered a county record 41 points in a quarter during its 55-0 loss to the Community School of Naples. The previous high mark for points allowed by a county team occurred in 1974, when Dunnellon gave up 38 in a quarter during a 64-0 loss to Wildwood.

The previous worst quarter in school history for the Saints came in 1999, when they allowed 35 points during the second quarter of a 98-14 loss to Crescent City prior to the adoption of a running clock.

DID YOU KNOW?: On the way to its first state championship in 1974, Forest saw current TCHS head coach John Brantley pass for 74 yards and one touchdown and add 38 more yards on the ground in a 20-0 win over Palatka South (name of present day Palatka High) at Booster Stadium. After the game, then-FHS head coach Brent Hall said the win was his “biggest to date” in the Star-Banner.

<p>Since taking over West Port's football program in December, Matt Franklin has talked about wanting to write his own history as the program's coach.</p><p>He started in the right direction, as the Wolf Pack snapped a six-game losing streak to Dunnellon with a 17-6 triumph Friday for their first win over their rivals since 2007.</p><p>West Port also snapped a five-game losing streak in regular season openers with the victory.</p><p>It was also the best defensive effort by the Wolf Pack since 2010, when they downed Lake Weir 7-6.</p><p>West Port will look to make more history when it hosts Forest this week.</p><p>“I'm hoping our place is packed because these kids deserve it,” Franklin said. “These kids deserve their home crowd, they deserve the biggest student body in Marion County, 2,600 kids, to have their butts in the stands rooting for these kids because they put the work in.”</p><p>The Wildcats lead the all-time series 11-2 and are 5-2 at WPHS. The Wolf Pack last knocked off FHS in 2005 and will try to snap an eight-game skid in the series.</p><p>“Coach Franklin's got them going over there,” Forest coach Skip Austin said. “He's got them believing. Our thing is we've got to make our guys understand that it's not the same old West Port team that has not been very good. They're a good football team and they've got some skill guys.”</p><p><b>GETTING DEFENSIVE:</b> Belleview improved to 3-1 all-time against The Villages with a 17-7 win. It was the fewest points Belleview allowed in a game since 2007. The previous low allowed by the Rattlers was in a shutout against West Port seven years ago.</p><p>Belleview improved to 7-12 in regular season openers and moved coach Phil Yancey's career mark to 15-13 in season-opening contests.</p><p>The Rattlers will now try to win “The War for the Oar,” for the second straight year when they visit Lake Weir. Belleview snapped a four-game losing streak to the Hurricanes with a 13-10 win last September at the Strike Zone.</p><p>The Rattlers lead the all-time series 10-5, but Lake Weir won five of the last seven meetings.</p><p>Belleview will try to snap a three-game losing skid at Hurricane Field.</p><p><b>BACK AT IT:</b> Dunnellon will try to avoid its first 0-2 start since 1993 against Inverness Citrus, which will attempt to knock off the Tigers in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1997-98.</p><p>Citrus opened its season with a 7-0 win over Class 6A, No. 10 Spring Hill Springstead thanks to Sam Franklin's 76-yard interception return on the final play of the game. </p><p>Last season, Citrus snapped a 15-game losing streak for Citrus County schools against Dunnellon with its 14-8 win at Ned Love Field.</p><p>It also ended a six-game losing streak for the Hurricanes against the Tigers.</p><p>Since 1966, Citrus holds a 15-9 edge over Dunnellon in the series.</p><p><b>BATTLE OF THE NORTHSIDE:</b> The rivalry between North Marion and Vanguard has been about as even as it could be since it began in 1970. Both teams have won 23 games in the county's longest continuous running series.</p><p>A year ago, it was the final game of the decorated coaching career of former North Marion head coach Craig Damon, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak to the Knights with a 21-20 win.</p><p>Last year's game was the sixth since 1982 that was decided by a field goal or less and the 16th decided by a touchdown or less.</p><p>This time around, it will be the first go-around for both head coaches, North Marion's Stephen Field and Vanguard's Edwin Farmer. The only other time the two programs were led by first-year coaches was 1975, when Tom Freeman led Vanguard and Mike Clayton was in charge of North Marion.</p><p><b>FLAGGED:</b> Both North Marion and Dunnellon will need to clean up their act when it comes to penalties in week two.</p><p>The Colts were flagged for 17 infractions against Forest, three off the school record for most penalties set in 1999 in a 13-0 loss at Daytona Beach Seabreeze.</p><p>Meanwhile, Dunnellon tied its school record with 16 penalties in its loss to West Port. The other time the Tigers received that many penalties was in the 1994 season opener, a 26-18 win over Lecanto in triple overtime.</p><p>DHS was 10 yards off the school record for penalty yards in one game — set in that same Lecanto game — with its 142 against West Port.</p><p>NMHS was 13 yards away from the single-game school mark of 175 set in a 1986 win over Callahan West Nassau. In that game, the Colts and Warriors combined for 29 penalties for 315 yards.</p><p>Marion County's most penalized game took place in 1984 when Forest and Orlando Boone combined for 361 yards in penalties, with Boone whistled for 22 of the 31 infractions.</p><p><b>TOUGH TRIP:</b> Both Trinity Catholic and Palatka were rained out in their opening contests and will face each other this week.</p><p>This will be the second meeting between the two schools, with the Celtics holding a 20-14 victory over the Panthers in 2013.</p><p>TCHS, ranked No. 4 in 3A, will make its first trip to Veterans Memorial Stadium, a notoriously tough place to play.</p><p>Palatka, however, hasn't defeated a ranked opponent since 2006 when it won 28-27 at North Marion. Palatka has since lost 14 straight games against ranked opponents and is 1-17 against teams in the top 10 since 2004.</p><p><b>DUBIOUS RETURN:</b> St. John Lutheran surrendered a county record 41 points in a quarter during its 55-0 loss to the Community School of Naples. The previous high mark for points allowed by a county team occurred in 1974, when Dunnellon gave up 38 in a quarter during a 64-0 loss to Wildwood.</p><p>The previous worst quarter in school history for the Saints came in 1999, when they allowed 35 points during the second quarter of a 98-14 loss to Crescent City prior to the adoption of a running clock.</p><p><b>DID YOU KNOW?:</b> On the way to its first state championship in 1974, Forest saw current TCHS head coach John Brantley pass for 74 yards and one touchdown and add 38 more yards on the ground in a 20-0 win over Palatka South (name of present day Palatka High) at Booster Stadium. After the game, then-FHS head coach Brent Hall said the win was his “biggest to date” in the Star-Banner.</p>